


Be Less Oblivious

by TheKingOfPenguinsServant



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Be More Chill - Freeform, Coming Out, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, boyf riends - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-05-12 23:38:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 9,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19239406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheKingOfPenguinsServant/pseuds/TheKingOfPenguinsServant
Summary: a be more chill fan fiction with the main characters being Jeremy, Michael, Rich, Jake, Brooke, Chloe, Jenna and Christine.Your average boyf friends fic with a dash of richjake and pinkberryThis is my first fan fiction ever so I have absolutely no idea what I am doing . Feedback is wantedalso English isn't my first language so please correct my grammar if you wantI'll mostly write them as being their physical original actors





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I also posted this fan fiction on wattpad so you can check it out here: https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/151574970/write/588220025

-Jeremy pov-

 

He had woken up in a hospital bed, not understanding or completely remembering what had happened at the play. All he knew for sure was that his head hurt. A lot.

"hello?" he called out, still not able to see his surroundings due to the harsh light and his sleepy eyes.

He tried to sit up, not yet knowing that his body hurt like hell.

"OW!" he cried out. He repeated the word a few times under his breath until he was cut of by a familiar voice; "feels like you're missing a part of yourself doesn't it?" the voice lisped

He turned his head looking for the source of the sound. Jeremy widened his eyes in disbelief,

"... Rich?"

The boy gave him a crooked smile before he flinched, clearly in pain.

"hurts like a motherfucker too" he announced, "be honest. What are they saying about me at school?" Jeremy looked down not wanting to meet his eyes. "it's that bad?"

he looked up with a careful expression on his face "sorry man..."

"no, it doesn't matter!" Rich sighed "I'm finally free of that shiny happy hivemind. From now on! The ladies are going to know the real Richard Goranski." he declared. Rich looked out in the room for a second as he realized; "and the dudes... oh my god I'm totally bi!" he said the word as if it was one he had known was him for forever, but he had never spoken out loud before. He looked up at Jeremy like he was extremely proud of that realization.

Jeremy looked at him for a second and then he shook his head trying to remember what had happened at the play. He suddenly looked up at Rich, confused, "wait. Your squip is gone? But how?"

"ask your buddy. The anti-social headphones kid. He's been by like a TON... what is he your... boyfriend or?"

Jeremy stared at the boy looking absolutely terrified. "just curious! No judgment, I'm totally bi now!" Rich hushed.

"I'm sure some special someone will be thrilled to have you Rich." A voice noted behind Jeremy.

Rich looked completely comfortable with this, as if the person had been standing there for a while, "why thank you." He said, wiggling his eyebrows playfully.

Jeremy turned around to find his best friend standing by the side of his bed, gaping at Rich, his eyes squinting at him as if he was trying to figure out if he was seriously flirting with him.

"what happened?" he asked Michael, "All I remember is that noise" he said putting his hand to his head.

"oh man it was AMAZING! They were communicating with each other, they were linked. Which means; if you consider the kind of high frequency... "he started to explain excitedly like he always did when he was super passionate about something. That's something that Jeremy would normally love. He liked it when his friend got all exited because of something nerdy, but today, he had a headache.

"Michael, Michael, Michael. My head still hurts."

Michael looked to the floor, going red. He tended to get overly exited like this. "oh right. Uhm." He quickly thought of a way to explain it to Jeremy without making him faint from dizziness, "turns out you didn't have to destroy every squip! Just one! And the rest," he started making explosion-like sounds, illustrating with his hands. After he was done he looked up with a giant smile on his face. Jeremy looked at him absently. Michael was smiling. After all he had done to him, there he was, at the side of his bed in a hospital grinning down at him as if nothing had happened.

"hey, I don't get it." He exclaimed. "after everything I did," he felt tears welling up in his eyes "you were still there for me."

Michael looked down and went silent for a moment, but then he made eye contact with Jeremy again with a slight smirk on his face, "I can't take all the credit." He stated.

"then who di-"

"Jeremy!" his father cut him off, storming into the room with a worried expression. "you okay?"

"dad! actually. I'm great." He concluded.

"I'm glad. Because you're grounded. You're gonna see some serious changes young man! Sorry but... what?" he had noticed the expression his son was wearing.

"dad!" Jeremy laughed happily. "you're wearing." He gestured to the older man's legs.

His father looked down and realized what Jeremy had meant. "oh, yeah," He looked up smiling, "Don't look so surprised! I'm your father! And I wear the pants around here... now." He suddenly looked utterly serious. "let's get down to business. Who is this Christine person, and why am I hearing about her from him?" He gestured towards Michael as he said this.

Jeremys expression turned gloomy. "it doesn't matter. After all I've done I'd be lucky if she wanted to go to the same school as me." Michael and his dad exchanged looks. "what?" he asked, confused.

"it's reassuring" Michael told his father. "he still knows nothing about girls."

The rest of that day had went on with Rich, Michael and his dad trying to give Jeremy relationship advice.

When he had finally gotten out of the hospital a few days later, he bumped into Brooke, Chloe, Jenna and Jake who were all chatting along in the school's hallways. Just thinking about Brooke made him feel terrible. He wanted to say sorry, he really did. He just hadn't found a way yet. Yet there she was, standing right in front of him with her friends.

"hey. Brooke. About what happened..."

"we've been looking for you!" Jake cut him off. Shit! Jake had grinned at him "good luck asking out Christine!"

Jeremys face turned bright pink as he cried out "seriously! How does everybody know about that?"

Jenna had then explained that ever since the coincidence at the play she had felt weirdly connected to all of them and that they'd all somehow found out about the squip's plan while they were squipped. Jeremy got redder by the moment, but nobody seemed to notice. As they all began giving him advice for what to do when he met Christine again.

Brooke had said something about how he didn't have to worry about how his skin looked, which of course immediately made him worry about how his skin looked, though that might have been her intention. Chloe had then desperately tried to save it by saying that Christine probably thought acne looked hot...

The same day Jeremy had approached Christine who was sitting on a bench at the mall.

He sat down beside her, and stammered "hey, so..." then he had gotten too nervous to continue.

In the back of his mind he could almost hear the squip facepalming.

Luckily, the awkward silence didn't last too long because Christine then started talking, "I still remember how it felt" she had exclaimed shyly.

"what?"

"it was like you said, like I would never have to not know anything again" she'd said. He realized quickly that she was talking about the squip. "what did yours look like?" she asked.

"Keanu Reeves" he had admitted. "yours?"

"Hillary Clinton" her face then turned bright red "that's sort of embarrassing."

He smiled "no, no that was actually pretty good" he reassured her.

There was a moment of comfortable silence before she said "it's embarrassing to find out. Deep down I just want things to be easy"

He thought of a good response. "yeah... but who wants things to be hard?" he stammered. She smiled when he said that. "look I-I almost destroyed most of the school." He stammered before admitting "maybe all of human civilization." He took a moment to think about that. He had really messed up. "I know that the last thing I deserve is another shot, but" the words got stuck in his throat. This was the part that he had been fearing the most; asking her out.

"just... say what's on your mind. Jeremy" she looked at him in a way that made him feel like she was completely unable of ever judging or hurting anyone. Of course, that wasn't true, but it made it easier for him to go on.

"lunch? Just the two of us?" he had stammered.

She had looked him in the eyes with a worried expression.

"and any voices in our heads?" she asked hesitantly. She was referring to the squip.

He wasn't the only one hearing it. The squip was gone but he was still afraid. Afraid that the squip was still there. Afraid that it was gonna take over any moment. Afraid that his thoughts were not his own.

But he knew the truth. And he needed to tell her. The squip was gone, for good. He was scared, and that was okay, because he knew that there was nothing to fear. It didn't make sense, but he would just have to deal with it.

He looked her in the eyes and reassuringly said "there might be voices in our heads... but I swear the voices there will be the regular kind"

She smiled that beautiful and uncontained smile that he had fallen in love with in seventh grade and he couldn't help but fall in love all over again whenever he looked at her, and then she said something that would change his life,

"me and the voices in our heads have made up our collective mind"

God damnit she was cute.

He chuckled "what do they say we should do?" he asked carefully

She looked him in the eyes and whispered "I think that all of us want to go out with you"

He might have had a heart attack, but he wasn't sure.

 

 

 


	2. Tea time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeremy apologizes and talks to Brooke

-Jeremy pov-

 

Jeremy was standing at the front door of a house that he'd never been to before. He took out a piece of paper from his pocket to check that this was indeed the right place, and according to the little note he had gotten from Jenna it was.

"well, this is it" he mumbled as he rang the doorbell.

"coming!" somebody yelled from the inside. A lump had started forming in his throat, too late to turn around now. He heard the person fixing with the lock from the inside before the door unlocked. He now stood face to face with Brooke Lohst. His ex-girlfriend.

Her expression went from a wide and welcoming smile to a stone-cold glare in the blink of an eye. He gulped.

"what are you doing here?" she demanded,

"I uh..." he suddenly found it extremely difficult to speak.

"spill it out, I don't have all day." she spat. He looked up hesitantly and was surprised to notice that her expression had changed, she looked bitter and... heartbroken.

"look I. Brooke I'm sorry. For everything. I-I never meant to..." he sighed. "I treated you like garbage and I'm sorry. Nothing could excuse my actions, not even the squip. it told me to do all those things, but I-I should've just told it no. I should've'" he was cut of by the tears starting to well up in his eyes, his throat started feeling like it was ripping itself apart violently.

She sighed "Jeremy it's fine. Its'"

"no! no its not fine! I'm sorry Brooke. I really am. I messed up and-and you have all the right in the world to be angry." His voice cracked as tears started falling down his face. He had prepared for this day for weeks but now that he was here, all the feelings started coming back at him.

Now she just stood there staring at him. Then a small smile spread across her face and she looked down,

"it's okay Jeremy. It really is. You said sorry. That's all I really needed."

He looked up eyes wide, "you're- you're not mad at me?"

"not anymore. I mean... I forgive you."

"re-really?" he sniffled

She giggled shyly. "yeah, really," she said while handing him a tissue from the pocket of her cardigan. She smiled at him as he chuckled and realized how much he had needed that tissue. "but id still like for you to explain it all to me if you don't mind." She stood to the side gesturing for him to come inside so he did.

As he blew his nose Jeremy studied his new surroundings. It was a nice small family home, the whole place smelled pleasantly like honey-melon and strawberries.

She showed him through the entry hall and into the kitchen where she started to cook some water. She then opened a yellow cupboard to get out two cups, she handed him the light blue one as she took the other one. Hers was white with doodles all over it.

"you like tea?" she asked

"oh, uh yeah," he answered now understanding why she'd given him the cup. "I uh- I like the kitchen..." that had sounded dumber than he'd meant it to.

She suppressed a laughed as she replied, "thank you" A loud "click" and the water was done. "choose your poison" she teased pointing towards a little wooden box. Jeremy opened the box and found tons of different kinds of tea inside. He chose the one with licorice and she picked a strawberry flavor.

Brooke took her cup of tea and gestured for him to follow her as she walked to the living room. She sat down in a big yellow sofa, then put her cup on the sofa table which enabled her to take a big fuzzy blanket from the end of the sofa to make herself comfortable, then she gestured for Jeremy to sit down so he did.

"so," she said before taking a small sip of tea "All those things you did, it was all because of the squip?" she asked

"y-yeah. I never meant to'" he stammered

"Jeremy stop apologizing and just explain it to me" she pled.

"sorry..."

"you took the squip to get with Christine, right?"

And as words failed Jeremy, he simply nodded.

"just had to make sure," she took another sip "so why did you get with me if you never even liked me?"

Jeremy felt guilty. He had treated her terribly and there was nothing he could do to make that right. "it-it told me that if I hooked up with the popular girls I'd become more noticeable to Christine." He took a sip

He looked extremely uncomfortable and awkward sitting in the little blue sofa chair with his cup of tea, seemingly having a starring contest with the floor. Brooke opened her mouth to speak but she was interrupted by the sound of the front door going up,

"I'm home!" a masculine sounding voice called from the entrance hall.

Jeremy heard footsteps down the hall before a middle-aged man came through the doorway, though Jeremy had a hard time figuring out exactly how he looked due to a big cardboard box the man was carrying in his arms covering the view. His blonde hair was the only thing visible to Jeremy.

"Brooke sweetie could you hand me the uh... the thingy thing? You know the...'" he placed the box on the nearby table revealing a worn out looking man. Eyes still on the box he pointed towards the sofa table still trying the explain to Brooke what he meant by "the thingy thing". Brooke on the other hand, had already risen from the sofa and was now handing him a tiny green... thingy thing. Jeremy honestly had no idea what it was but judged by the expression on Mr. Lost's face when he saw it, it was exactly what he'd been looking for. "thank you! Perfect. Just perfect..." he mumbled all his attention still on the object in the box.

Mr. Lohst carefully took the object out and placed it besides the box. It was a small robot that reminded Jeremy of a puppy. Brookes dad then started fiddling around with the metal puppy as Brooke sat down in the sofa again and her attention went back to Jeremy, "so as I was saying'"

"you weren't saying anything doodles darling" her dad broke in

"I was talking to Jeremy dad" sighed with a grin on her face.

Her father looked up from his project for the first time, his eyes immediately fell on Jeremy. His eyes went wide

"oh! oh. Hello young man! Welcome to our home." He stammered nearly falling over himself as he stood up and walked towards Jeremy. "I'm Charles Lohst. Pleasure to meet you" He said reaching out his hand to shake Jeremys.

Jeremy awkwardly shook Charles hand as he mumbled the words "I'm uh Jeremy... sir"

"sorry son I didn't quite catch that" the man said still with a smile on his face

Luckily Brooke then broke in. "dad this is my friend Jeremy, from school"

Jeremy turned his head to look at Brooke. Friend. She just called him friend.

Did she really consider him a friend? Or did she just say that because of her dad.

"friend?" Charles looked at Brooke as if she was a puzzle and he wasn't sure if the piece he had found fit in or not

"yes dad. Friend."

A smile spread across Mr. Lohst face "well it's nice to meet you Jeremy" he said and then immediately went back to his robot puppy

Jeremy took a moment just staring at Mr. Lohst who quickly had buried himself in boxes, papers and other small objects he used to build his little mechanic puppy.

The rest of that day was spent with Jeremy and Brooke casually chatting in her living room


	3. Letter For Rich

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rich revives a letter at the hospital

-Rich pov-

 

Rich was laying in his hospital bed dozing off, the sun warming his cheeks, when he heard two familiar sounding voices; Jeremy and Michael. He didn't bother opening his eyes though.

"do you think he's sleeping?" Michael asked, only just loud enough for Rich to hear

"Rich?" Jeremy called

A tiny smile spread across Rich's face as he kept pretend sleeping. He heard footsteps and two shadows appeared on the other side of his eyelids.

"maybe we should just let him sleep?"

"dude we can't just leave a bouquet with no explanation" Michael replied

"didn't they leave a note with their names on it?"

Rich heard a sound that he figured had to be one off the boys placing said bouquet on his bedside table. He opened his eyes slightly and out of the corner of his eye he could make out a vase standing next to his "get well soon" teddy bear he'd gotten from his 4-year-old cousin a few weeks ago.

"wow. I knew you guys liked me, but don't ya think a bouquet is a little much?" Rich joked revealing that he was indeed awake

"Jesus Christ Rich! You can't just scare us that way!" Jeremy shrieked

"didn't scare me," Michael shrugged with a grin on his face while watching Jeremy who was trying not to hyperventilate

"shut up Michael" Jeremy laughed

"make me"

"geez guys stop flirting, you're gonna make me jealous"

Both boys turned their heads towards Rich eyes wide,

"we weren't. we're not. Wasn't. not." Michael stammered

Jeremy just stood there, eyes wide unable to speak

"calm down! I was joking" Rich laughed at the equally terrified expression on the other boys faces

"oh yeah. Of course," Jeremy sighed

There was an awkward silence before Michael who'd sat down on one of the nearby chairs broke in "so uh," he cleared his throat and put on his usual cocky grin again "are you gonna thank us for the flowers or what"

"oh yeah course. Thanks a lot" Rich lisped, now turning his attention towards the bouquet.

"they're not just from us though," Jeremy spoke "check the note" he suggested

So, he did. It was a small pink note with four names on it. It said;

dear Rich, we all hope you'll get better soon

Though you should probably wait a little before you come back to school

exams are coming up

from

Brooke, Chloe, Jenna, Jakey D, Christine and the rest of Iconis high school

Rich chuckled at his best friend's note. All this time in the hospital he'd wondered if they were even friends anymore. Jake had broken both legs getting the two of them out of his burning house. A fire, not to mention, that Rich had started. Jake didn't even know the real Rich. And yet he still participated in writing his note.

"thanks guys" he said, still looking at the note

Jeremy was the one breaking the silence; "oh, by the way, if you're coming back in two weeks as promised you might want to try to catch up on school."

"yeah about that... the squip usually helped me out in the school department. Wasn't exactly an honor roll student back in freshman year."

"oh... Yeah... Well we could bring you a copy of our homework if you want?" Jeremy offered "I'll be kinda busy catching up myself so I'm afraid I wouldn't be any help'"

"I'll come study with you if you want" Michael volunteered

"yeah?" Rich raised an eyebrow. He hadn't really talked a lot with Michael alone. Not at all actually.

"yeah"

 

It was Monday afternoon when Rich heard a knock on the door to his hospital room.

"I would open the door for you but I'm afraid I can't" he yelled

The door opened, and Michael stepped in with his backpack over his shoulder. "hey".

"hey"

"can I sit on the'" Michael pointed to the chair opposite Rich's bed.

"be my guest" he said gesturing for Michael to sit down

"thanks" Michael sat on the chair and started pulling out his school books. "I'm thinking we should start with biology since that's the first exam we have"

"fair enough," he agreed "are you sure you can help me though? Don't you usually work alone? Or with Jeremy."

Michael put the biology book down. "I usually study with Jeremy yes, but he is on a date with Christine again. And you need help so here I am."

"oh. Right." Rich eyes fell upon Michaels backpack, "sorry about that by the way. It's permanent marker."

"wha' oh that," Michael realized what Rich was talking about. "yeah I found out." He said, now looking at the words written on his backpack. They spelled "RIENDS". It matched Jeremy's, saying "BOYF". Rich had thought he was being absolutely brilliant when he first wrote that. Now he felt guilty. Still brilliant. But guilty.

 

 

are you not proud of me? I posted another chapter. btw the part saying "Though you should probably wait a little before you come back to school. exams are coming up" is the part that Jake wrote. I write it all in word where they all have different hand writing but here it doesn't work the same way, so I just had to make sure u guys knew which part he wrote.


	4. Fireboy And Watergirl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeremy and Christine stumbles across Jeremy and Michael's old favorite game

-Michael pov-

Michael walked down the school hallway with his headphones on. He was listening to David Bowie's starman on full volume.

There were so many people in the hallways at that time of the day. He would normally wait about ten minutes after class ended so there would be less people, but today he just wanted to get home quickly. He tried hard to focus on the music. It didn't exactly work.

He knew the playlist by heart, so when the song started to fade out he prepared for the next song, but instead he heard his best friend Jeremy yelling his name.

"Michael!"

He turned his head to see Jeremy sitting on a sofa with Christine and a laptop. Jeremy waived him over. He took of his headphones and turned off the music.

Michael walked towards them. "hey," he spoke "what's up?"

"aw man you won't believe this. So, me and Christine were just showing each other old websites we used to go to when we were younger, and Christine showed me this game and'" he turned the laptop "look!"

Michael looked at the screen "is that? '"

"yes! It is!" Jeremy laughed

"god I haven't seen that game since preschool." Michael sat down beside the two.

"wait you know this game too?" Christine asked

"course I do. Me and Jeremy used to play this constantly. But I see they've updated it?"

"fireboy and watergirl ep. Three!" Jeremy seemed extremely exited about this which made Michael chuckle

Christine smiled and leaned her head on Jeremy's shoulder "hey do you guys want to play? I really want to see how long you two can get!"

The boys locked eyes

"yeah sure"

Safe to say that they destroyed the game. Christine was having a blast watching them. Michael as fireboy and Jeremy as watergirl they played their way through the game with ease. No communication was needed.

 

Apparently Christine's aunt was in town for the weekend, so it was one of the few weekends Michael got to spend with Jeremy. After Christine and Jeremy started dating they'd spend a bunch of time together, which made sense; they were a new couple after all, but Michael was grateful for the time he got to spend with his Jeremy.

After school they quickly went by Jeremys plays so he could take a bath. Michael just played video games on Jeremys computer in the meantime. After that they simply left. Jeremy's dad was happy when he could spend nights at his friends place since he couldn't take as much care of Jeremy as he would want after he started on his new job. Which in a way was exactly was what Jeremy had always wished for.

Now the two of them were standing in their favorite sev' elev' to get some slushies before they left for Michael's place.

Michael stood in one side of the shop picking out snacks (not that they didn't have enough already) while Jeremy filled their cups with red and blue slushy.

"hey Jeremy bud should we get sour cream and onion too?"

"dude is that even a question"

Michael quickly considered that and agreed "fair". You always have space for some sour cream and onion chips. Michael threw in some more bags of chips before going over to Jeremy.

Jeremy looked down at the basket Michael was carrying and raised a brow. "wont that be a little expensive" he giggled

Michael looked down. He honestly hadn't thought about that. "nah man anything for tonight. We are gonna hang out in style"

"by smoking in your basement" Jeremy laughed

"keep it down man" Michael joined the laughter. They tried to calm each other down on the way to the cashier but it didn't really work so they just stood there laughing while the employee looked at them like they had been awake for way too long and the last thing they needed was two teenage boys loudly laughing in their shop.

Michael opened the door for Jeremy on their way out "mi lady" he said bowing deeply with a grin on his face

"shut up man" Jeremy laughed gently pushing Michael out off the way over to his car

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I pretty much wrote this when I stumbled upon F&W and felt super nostalgic about it.


	5. Birthday Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is Michael's birthday!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: both Michael and Jeremy are high AF

Warning: both Michael and Jeremy are high af

Jeremy pov

Today was a special day. It was Michaels birthday. So of course, Jeremy had to celebrate it with him... by smoking in Michaels basement.

"dude it's my turn pass it over!" Jeremy giggled looking at Michael who just sat there in his bean bag with their joint in his hand. His expression was hilarious staring at nothing like that. "hey hand it to me" he laughed grapping for the joint.

A smirk emerged on the birthday-boys face "come and get it then"

"oh, it's on!" Jeremy reached out for the joint again, but Michael stretched his arm in the other direction, so Jeremy had to move closer "c'mon dude" he laughed "you've had your time its my turn!"

"hmmm... nah I think I've had it just the right amount of time" Michael smirked knowing that Jeremy would get annoyed

Jeremy placed his left leg on one side of Michael and the right on the other side as he became more and more determined. Still laughing he tried to grab the joint again "hey gimme, gimme, gimme". Michael made it easy for Jeremy to reach it after that. He grabbed the joint and instantly put it in his mouth. "Ha! I got it! Good luck getting it back from me," Michael didn't respond "dude?" Jeremy looked at his best friend whose face was red as a tomato. Must've been hard playing with Jeremy or something he thought.

Whenever Michael and him smoked Jeremy would be in this weird state of complete relaxation and comfort but somehow also get super hyper. His mouth would also get super dry, which is why he'd always have at least to soda bottles beside him. The biggest problem for Jeremy though was his short-term memory. It was already fucked up but when they smoked it was near to nonexistent.

Michael on the other hand seemed almost normal. Or at least he would to anyone who wasn't Jeremy. Jeremy got to see the real Michael whereas pretty much everyone else one saw an anti-social headphones kid. He'd usually go all quiet and just think while eating his Cheetos. Then when he had thought for a while, he would tell Jeremy what he'd been thinking of. Usually it seemed pretty genius to Jeremy, but he would never be able to remember what it was the next day.

Jeremys mouth suddenly went dry and he removed himself from Michael. He looked around, "hey where's my Slurpo?"

"huh"

"my Slurpo. Remember? The red and blue shit we bought at sev elev?"

Michael looked done "dude... you didn't have a Slurpo this time. You just have the clear coke and your boring ass Pepsi and a piece of birthday cake, you brought yourself by the way"

Right. he forgot. "oh... well where's my coke then?"

The look on Michaels face said "I am so disappointed why am I even friends with this idiot" but he still replied "look to your left"

"ah. Sorry" Jeremy giggled. He was literally sitting right beside it

Michael chuckled. He had a nice chuckle. Only Jeremy could make him laugh that way. He liked that... wait what?

Jeremy had trailed off. So had Michael by the looks of it, then he suddenly looked at Jeremy looking extremely serious

Jeremy thought about the question for a second "hmm... wait what was the question again?"

"does lightning McQueen get life insurance or car insurance?"

"oh. Man, I don't know. I mean they're all cars, right? to them it would be life insurance but since its Disney and also they are cars it would probably be car insurance, right?"

"I hear you, but wouldn't it just be life insurance since to them there is no humans or animals, they're all just cars or tractors or airplanes, right? like life insurance shouldn't just be for humans. Especially not in a world with no humans"

They kept talking about lighting McQueen's preferred insurance for about half an hour before finally deciding to actually watch Cars.

"wait you just have cars lying around in your room? Do you even like it?"

"I mean not really no. but dude don't ask questions if you want to watch it."

"alright let's watch"

About an hour later or more later Jeremy was half asleep on Michaels shoulder who was completely invested in the movie. He could hear his heartbeat. Feel his breath on his hair. Smell the slight scent of weed, birthday cake and sushi, and though he didn't look, he could imagine his cute face as he stared at the screen, so his deep brown eyes would sparkle like they always did when they played video games. He had gotten distracted by that a few times. Yet another reason they couldn't get past the next level in apocalypse of the damned... What?

Finally, at around 3 am he fell asleep on his shoulder. Michael probably kept watching but judging by the position they woke up in he hadn't done anything else after that


	6. Frozen Yogurt And Hospitals

Brooke pov

It was around ten AM and Brooke had just woken up. It was a weekend so she had actually planned on sleeping much longer but now she blamed school for messing with her personal sleep system, so she had woken up only three hours after she normally would

Brooke checked her phone. She had fifty-four new messages, eleven from Chloe, two from Jenna, forty from some random group chat and one from Rich Goranski. Rich had never texted her before. What did he want? Oh right, probably just some copy pasted message he had sent to everyone since he would be out of the hospital by now. No wait if he was out, he would have heard from Chloe and Jenna already. Though of course they had texted her. That was probably why.

She opened the text from Chloe;

Chloegurrl: heeyy hun! Have you heard???

\- Ok so you haven't answered so I'm just gonna tell you

\- You know how Jake dressed up as prince this Halloween right. u know the night his house burned down and all right? yeah so, I heard from Jenna who heard from Thalia who heard from Dustin who heard from Rich that Jake likes Prince right?

\- Well prince just died!

\- Hello???

\- Should I give him something to like change his mood?

\- Maybe he needs a hug?

\- I am worried

\- Cuz he's my friend u know

\- Nothing else

\- Brooke???

She didn't answer

She also found two texts from Jenna about a party at cherry hill which she of course told Chloe about. Then she realized that she failed at not texting her, so she also answered her texts,

Brooksie: also, that's sad with that prince guy

She really didn't feel like talking about Jake. For some reason she would always feel jealous whenever Chloe started talking about him. It was kind of dumb because she didn't even like Jake, so it was sorta strange.

She didn't even bother looking at the group chat, it was probably just a bunch of chain mail and other annoying messages she didn't want to care about.

But Rich. She had to check Rich's message. Shed gotten rather curios since none of the other messages she had received was about him.

Rich: hey Brooke you awake?

Brooke: yeah, I just woke up

A minute went by without him answering. She was pretty used to everyone answering her immediately, so she got rather impatient and opened YouTube to watch the rest of the video she started the night before. But then,

Rich: great I need help

The hell was he talking about

Brooke: with what??

Rich: you know where the nearest Yoghurtland is to the hospital?

Brooke: omg you did not just ask me that

Rich: what?? I need some! Wanna go get some for me?

He did not just ask Brooke Lohst the queen of Pinkberry where the nearest Yoghurtland was! Also did he actually want her to get him some? Why didn't he ask Jake? Maybe he knew about the whole prince deal. But then why did he ask Brooke? He could've texted literally anyone else so why her

Brooke: ok why did you actually text me?

Two minutes passed by

Rich: alright you're tough

\- I just wanna hang

Brooke: with who??

Rich: you dumbo. You know what maybe not, I don't like stupid people

Brooke: shut up why did you wanna talk

Rich: I told you already! I wanna hang out

\- Get to know you and shit

Brooke: get to know me? Dude we already know each other

\- kinda

\- not really

Rich: I guess we "kinda" knew each other before but we don't actually know each other. Also, I wasn't myself ever when we talked

\- so, ignoring the fact that you seem fucking stupid at times, I want to get to know you and shit

Brooke: I'll come visit you with some frozen yoghurt IF you stop calling me stupid

Rich: seems like a deal to me

Brooke hadn't thought she was gonna go to the hospital that day but here she was frozen yoghurt in her hand sitting on the train on the way to visit a guy she didn't even have a crush on. The fact that he actually managed to get her to go visit him despite her not wanting anything romantic or sexual from it was pretty impressive.

"you brought it?"

"hello Rich. And yes, I did didn't know what kind you like though, so I just got my favorites"

"holy shit that's so pink" he lisped

"yeah why do you think it's called Pinkberry? Also, thanks for ruining all my plans for the day"

Rich chuckled "you didn't have any plans"

"yeah you're right I didn't" she sat down in the armchair beside his hospital bed. "so how are you doing?"

"good, now hand me my frozen yoghurt"

"oh, right I forgot" she handed him the cup and ate a small bite of her own "so I guess you texted me instead of Jake because of the whole prince deal right?"

"what prince?"

"you know, Prince. That guy Jake likes or whatever"

"oh, the singer, right? yeah I think he knows who he is but never heard him actually talk about it"

"wait so he isn't devastated that he died?"

Apparently, Rich didn't even know that "that dude" was dead and much less did he think that Jake would. Normally Brooke would text Chloe about this immediately but for some reason she kind of just wanted to talk with Rich for a while.

"oh my god this is so good!" Rich exclaimed as he took yet another spoonful of yoghurt which made Brooke smile. He seemed so different. So nice too, "ey fuckhead hand me a tissue will ya?" or maybe not

"yeah if you stop calling me stuff like fuckhead and dumbo"

Rich looked up from the frozen yoghurt for the fist time, eyes wide "shit sorry man I didn't mean to. Kinda hard to stop habits like that"

"like calling people fuckhead?"

"Yeah!" he looked stupidly exited that he thought she understood so she decided not to talk more about the subject.

Then she had a thought, "wait! If Jake isn't all sad and broody then why didn't you text him instead? You guys are best friends, and according to Jenna the only time he was here you were unconscious"

Rich looked dumbfounded "Jake was here?"

"uh yeah. Course he was I don't get why he hasn't been by more though you guys are best friends,"

"no were not"

This time it was Brookes turn to be dumbfounded "what?"

"were not best friends. We're not even friends"

"you guys had a fight?"

"no! I just. Listen. He doesn't know me aight? We became friends only after I got my squip so even though I know him, he has no idea who I am"

"wow... that's heavy"

"indeed"

"... Rich?"

"that's me"

"you're gay right?"

"bisexual actually"

"what's th... never mind. How do you know that you like? You know"

"that you're into the same sex?" he asked

"noneverminditwasastupidquestiondonteventhinkaboutit" Rich raised his brows and stared at Brooke looking both pleased and sarcastic which annoyed Brooke slightly "yes Rich how does someone realize that they like a person of the same sex"

He looked like he was about to say something stupid and he knew it, but he still thought it would be funny "well I don't know about everyone else, but I just looked at another guy and I was like "fuck that's hot" and then I looked at a girl and that was fucking hot too"

She had thought whatever he said would annoy her but to her surprise it actually made her laugh. She liked this guy. As a friend. But he was making her accept that there was someone else she didn't like as "just a friend".


	7. Gaydar

Rich pov

Rich did not regret making Brooke come to the hospital that day. She was one of the first real friends he had gotten after being himself again. She had been by everyday since with some frozen yoghurt and once in a while she would bring someone, that someone would usually be Michael. Jeremy was usually too busy with his girlfriend to come. But on one particular day after Michael had left, Brooke had decided to stay. Rich enjoyed talking to Brooke, even though he of course liked Michael she was the one who seemed to understand his hate for homework the best. Michael hated school but he somehow had nothing against education if it was "done right" which Rich did not understand.

Brooke opened mouth to speak but he interrupted her "he is so gay"

"what"

"Michael" he made eye contact with Brooke "definitely gay"

Brooke looked at the door Michael had just looked out of "now that you say it..."

"what do you mean "now that you say it" it is so obvious" he exclaimed. Because it was.

"I mean, I guess. I just never thought of it before"

"my gaydar is a talent I am very proud of, but Michael is so easy!"

Brooke looked puzzled "what's a gaydar?"

"its kind of obvious isn't it? A gay radar" he explained

she smirked "how good is your gaydar then?"

"I am confident that I could tell the straight from the queer out at the entire school"

She started listing up different names of people at the school "Madeline"

"straight"

"Dustin"

Rich knew this one for a fact "queer"

"Jenna"

"straight" that one was harder

"Thalia"

"straight"

"me"

"queer"

"wait what?"

"what?"

"why do you think I am... gay"

"I mean am I wrong?"

No answer

"ok let me explain. First of all, don't worry or whatever only someone queer could have a good enough gaydar to know. So, you asked me about how a person knows they're gay. See there could be two sides to this; straight confusion or questioning. And now you want to know what sexuality I think you are, which if you weren't questioning you would be confident enough to not ask or clearly do it as a joke. Also, you just seem gay"

The room was silent. He didn't enjoy it. She was looking exactly how the tiny part that was left of him when he had gotten the squip felt whenever it made him repress his feelings. So, no he did not enjoy it.

Finally, she broke the silence "what do I do?"

"I mean why not just do exactly as you usually would. You don't have to become some gay guru for other gays only interacting with gays. Just go to school and go to parties. Gossip with your girlfriends or whatever I don't care what you do"

"no, I mean... about my feelings. I like guys for sure I mean how do you get heartbreak over someone you don't like but what do I do about my feelings for other girls. One in particular"

"well first thing you should do is put this secret girl crush of yours to the R.K.I.Y.G. test"

"the what now?"

"the R.K.I.Y.G test. Short for "Rich knows if you're gay" test." He wiggled his eyebrows at her "so. Who's the secret someone?"

Again, no reply

"c'mon I can't help you if you keep denying your feelings"

"... its Chloe"

"WHY"

"hey what do you mean why? She is super-hot!"

"I mean yeah but she's also an annoying bitch"

"she's my best friend and crush so don't you dare call her annoying... or a bitch"

"sticking up for your girlfriend huh" he grinned at her

She didn't smile back "she's not my girlfriend. She's not even gay"

"really? Because my gaydar is giving me major queer vibes in her direction".

"well maybe your gaydar isn't as good as you thought it was"

He gasped overdramatically "how dare you!" Finally, she let out a small giggle "listen I don't know shit about love so I am not the one who you should ask these questions"

"yeah I guess... so hey when are you getting out of the hospital"

That's when his mood changed "Monday..."

"no way! Will you be back in school then?"

"I guess"

"that's great Rich! Rich?" she looked concerned "Rich what's wrong?"

"nothing."

"well that's the biggest lie I've ever heard"

"...my dad doesn't want me back home. I don't wanna go back don't get me wrong, but I have nowhere else to go. And he definitely isn't going to give me money to rent a place"

"oh"

"yeah"

"well where are you planning on going then? Oh, I know! You should go talk to Jake about you two becoming roommates. I mean wouldn't it be easier to find a place when there are two of you or something? And he would probably let you stay in his car until you find a place!"

He looked at her like she was stupid which he incidentally believed she was in that very moment "oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Totally! I'll just go ask the guy who's house I burned down if he would let me stay in the only thing, he has left, with him. Yes, that would definitely work" he said sarcastically

She looked rather displeased "Rich I know you don't believe me, but I really don't think he hates you as much as you think he does! You said you know Jake and he just doesn't know you right? well if that's true then you should know that he's probably the kind of guy who literally wouldn't care if you just use the word "bro" when you apologies"

She was right. but that wasn't the only problem. He really didn't feel like telling her but there was another reason why he didn't want to confront him. During the time he was squipped he had started to realize that he was bisexual, but he repressed it. Now without the squip he had had time to think and realize exactly who had made him realize that. Yes it was mostly just a bunch of random hot guys and girls at parties but the biggest one; was Jake.


	8. Like A Love-Sick Fool

Brooke pov

It was Monday morning and Brooke was getting ready for school. She couldn't wait which was a first. Rich was coming back, and she was exited. She never thought she would actually like him, but he was a pretty cool guy also he didn't mind her talking about Chloe for hours. He even knew how to braid hair!

"cupcake its breakfast time hurry on down if you wanna eat with me and your mother ok?" it was her dad. He never called her down for breakfast, so she hurried on down

"hey guys what... up?" her dad looked ecstatic which of course he always did but today seemed different like he had a reason. Then she looked at her plate and on top of it stood a nicely wrapped present "dad! My birthday is not till June! What is this?" she smiled

Her mother smiled at her "c'mon now open it hunny"

She sat down in her chair smiling at her parents. What could it be? She carefully took of the ribbon and then the wrapping covered in cute little puppies underneath the wrapping was a cardboard box closed with washi tape also covered in puppies. She peeled of the tape and opened the box inside was a note, a washi tape and most of all a robotic puppy "dad! Mom!" she laughed "it's so cute!"

Her dad looked nervous "really? I'm sorry we couldn't get you a real one cupcake, but you know I'm allergic and,"

"no way dad this is amazing!" she interrupted "a real puppy would probably be too much work anyway and I can always get one when I move out. This is so cute dad and just the fact that you took time to make this is amazing! Thank you, dad."

Her mothers smile was wide and real "alright now let's eat. You can show Brooke how it works later Charles" she said as she noticed that her husband was already fully invested in showing their daughter how to operate the puppy

"huh?" he looked up at his wife "oh right food."

Her mother drove her to school since her work was right down the road, she did this every morning. As she walked out the door, she saw a figure racing towards her. Chloe. She seemed frustrated enraged even. "hello Joanne," she addressed Brooke's mother by first name "Brooke I have news"

"bye mom thanks for the ride" she managed to get out before being dragged towards the school. Her mother waved a goodbye and closed the car door for her daughter the drove away.

"you will not believe what happened at the party last night!" she ranted but before she could continue Brooke broke in'

"there was a party? Why wasn't I invited?"

"you were! You're the one who invited me, remember? At cherry hill! I'm gonna ask why you didn't show later but right now I need to tell you the tea" she seemed very serious, so Brooke listened as always

Apparently, Jake and two girls from Ashland had had a threesome and Chloe had walked in on them. She was pissed. Which of course she didn't really have any right to since her and Jake had been over since September. She tried so hard to be friends with him but that wasn't what she wanted at all. She wanted Jake and her to get back together even though in Brooke's opinion he was a bit of a jerk about relationships and Chloe definitely deserved better. she had thought that Chloe meant the same thing but after everybody had gotten squipped she started going after him again even though she had almost managed to just move on and date other people.

Later that day in class Rich had gotten into one of the same classes as Brooke and since neither Chloe or Jenna had that class Brooke didn't have somebody to sit next to before Rich came and took a seat.

"hey" he whispered

"hi" she murmured back

"what chapter we at?"

"I have no clue" she answered quite truthfully

He glanced at her "really"

"yeah I finished the book last month"

"you what?" he cried a little too loud for the teachers liking

"shh" their teacher hissed

He raised his hands apologizingly and lisped "sorry sir"

"mam" she said under her breath

"what" he whispered back

"she's a woman"

"no way!"

"I was as surprised as you are"

"fuck"

"also, the strictest Christian lady I have ever met so unless you wanna fail immediately I suggest you keep your cursing to the minimum"

After class was lunch break so the two went to the cafeteria together. As they got their plates Rich suddenly did a silent gossip "ok so don't look now but kind of do because Michael is looking like the most love-sick fool, I have ever seen in my entire life right now" she looked the same direction as Rich and saw two familiar faces; Michael and Jeremy. Jeremy seemed to be telling some story completely oblivious to the fact that Michael was indeed looking like a love-sick fool at him. The charm broke the moment Christine Canigula sat down beside Jeremy though.

"ok I definitely see what you mean. Oh my god he is so in love its almost sad"

"well considering the fact that Jeremy is currently kissing his girlfriend while blushing hard right in front of him, it actually is sad".


	9. Celebrate Good Times

Jeremy pov

Received at 6 AM Tuesday

From; Brooke Lohst

\- hello Jeremy as you may be aware Rich just came back into school, so I am planning a tiny celebratory trip to New York city tomorrow. What do you say? It will be me, Rich, Michael and Chloe. Hope you answer soon. I am paying for transportation as long as you guys pay for your own food. Xoxo Brooke

From; Jeremy Heere

\- yeah, I'm in. what time though?

He couldn't believe it Brooke Lohst and Rich Goranski actually wanted him to join them. Or maybe they just wanted someone to keep Michael entertained. Except Michael had actually been hanging out with them quite a bit so maybe they really did want Jeremy to come along. Did he have friends now? Wow.

He went to the bathroom to brush his teeth only to find out that his dad was already using the bathroom

"hey dad you done soon?" he asked

"just a minute son. Oh, hey have you seen my brown dress pants? I can't find them"

"the ones with no pockets that I am pretty sure are women's pants? No, I haven't seen them"

He heard his dad flush the toilet and a few seconds later he opened the door to let Jeremy in "ok but tell me if you do because I have an important business meeting today alright?"

"what about the black ones that go with your fancy belt? couldn't those work?"

His dad considered that "well if I can't find the brown pair, I guess that's what I am going with, but they wouldn't really go well with my shirt. Oh, and your mother called yesterday and asked if you would want to eat dinner with her today? Text her your answer will ya? Thanks champ" he left the bathroom

Jeremy looked into the mirror and stared at himself for a while. The boy who just a few months earlier had had a lousy dad and only one friend just helped his dad decide what to wear for a meeting at his job right after getting asked by a whole group of people to come celebrate one of his friends and the best part was that he was being himself completely the entire time.

It was the first break of school and he and Christine was sitting at their preferred couch in the hallway. As Christine was telling him about her favorite off Broadway musicals, he made eye contact with Brooke who was listening to Chloe ranting about probably Jake. She smiled and he waved. Friends.

"hey JerJer?" Christine asked, "what is your favorite off Broadway musical?" she said with the cutest smile Jeremy had ever seen

"I honestly don't know that many" he stammered through multiple voice cracks. God she was beautiful. Maybe not by society's standards but to Jeremy she was the perfect girl.

"well do you want me to show you some then?" his heart started pounding faster. Watching musicals with his crush. No not crush; girlfriend. Holy shit she was his girlfriend

"I am so lucky to be dating you". He did not mean to have said that out loud. He felt the warmth growing stronger in his cheeks "I didn't mean to say that out loud!" he shrieked

She giggled "thank you. I feel lucky to be with you too"

"hi guys am I interrupting something?" said a voice behind Jeremy. He turned around and was faced with the face of Rich Goranski

"oh, uh no-no not at all I mean yeah but not-no what is it rich" WHY DID HE ALWAYS STAMMER?

Rich jumped over the back of the couch and landed next to Jeremy "great, have you guys seen Brooke I think she is up to something and I need to find out what it is" he lisped

Wait the lunch was a surprise? "no, we haven't seen h'"

"yeah she walked past with Chloe just a minute ago" Christine answered him with her always-kind-smile

Rich finger gunned her "thank you fair lady. Till we meet again" he then did a salute raised from his seat and then took a bow before running after Brooke

"fair lady?" Christine asked "I like that guy" they laughed both finding Rich's choice of words very entertaining

Jeremy stood in front of the school waiting for the others to get out of class. It was Wednesday so they were gonna go to New York city after school, but Jeremy had one class less than the others and it wouldn't pay of to go home just to go back to the school again, so he had decided to stay until the others came out. He had just said goodbye to Christine who also had less classes so now he was waiting alone in the cold spring weather.

He sat on one of the benches in front of the parking lot witch his phone mindlessly scrolling through it. He didn't pay attention his surroundings whatsoever. "hey Jeremy". He almost shrieked,

"holy shit Brooke you scared the living hell out of me"

She clearly tried hard to hold back a laugh "you get scared too easily Jeremy. Are you ready" she asked tilting her head slightly to her left and Jeremy looked behind him seeing his best friend in deep conversation with Rich.

"oh right. yeah I'm ready" he smiled his always awkward smile. "so, who's driving?"

"Michael said he'd do it" she smiled back and as they walked toward Michael and Rich, he realized that he hadn't even talked to Michael about coming even though he very well knew he was coming too. He always talked to Michael about everything so why hadn't he done so this time? He hadn't even been busy. Except of course with Christine. Christine... shit. Did he spend too much time with her? No, no it was completely normal to spend that much time with each other in the beginning of a relationship. Still Jeremy couldn't help to feel bad. He really hadn't spent enough time with Michael, and he hadn't even realized,

"you all ready?" Michael asked with a giant smile on his face. What had he and Rich been talking about that could be that funny? He should say something funny too. He wanted Michael to be happy whenever they were around each other. He wanted to be the reason for Michael's smile... what?


End file.
